CHRAJ elected to serve at NANHRI General Assembly Meeting

On November 2, 2021, the Network of African National Human Rights Institutions (NANHRI), of which the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) is a member, had its General Assembly meeting in Harare, Zimbabwe.

Hosted by the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission and the NANHRI Secretariat based in Nairobi, Kenya, the last General Assembly meeting was held in Cairo, Egypt on November 4, 2019 shortly before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

NANHRI is a network of 46 National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) in Africa. The mission of NANHRI is to support through national, regional and international cooperation the establishment and strengthening of NHRIs to effectively deliver on their mandate of human rights promotion and protection.

The meeting was organised ahead of the 13th biennial conference of the network.

Pandemic

In his welcome address, the Vice Chairperson of NANHRI, Dr. Elasto Mugwadi, who also doubles as Chairperson of the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission, expressed regret about the challenges posed by the pandemic to human rights work.

He, however, commended members on their commitment to human rights promotion and protection despite COVID-19.

The Chairman of NANHRI, Ambassador Moushira Khattab, who is also the President of the National Council for Human Rights of Egypt, eulogised her predecessor, whose tenure had resulted in initiatives such as the inaugural NHRIs forum, a critical event on the sidelines of the African Commission on People’s Rights ordinary sessions, including spearheading the adoption of the strategic plan of action (2021-2025).

She disclosed that the National Human Rights Commission of the Gambia had applied for the GANHRI accreditation and hoped that it would be granted to be the 25th ‘A’ status NHRI in Africa.

The main highlight of the meeting was the election of new executive officers of NANHRI and Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI).

Election

CHRAJ, given its national and global standing, was re-elected to serve on the Steering Committee of NANHRI and a number of committees and working groups at the continental and global levels.

The Commissioner, Justice Joseph Whittal, was elected as the Vice Chairperson of NANHRI and as the automatic Chairperson of the continental body and the host of the 14th Biennial Conference of NANHRI, which will be held in Accra, Ghana in 2023.

Furthermore, he was retained as the Chairperson for the Working Group on SDGs and Agenda 2063 for a third two-year term, following his sterling performance in the first and second terms. The membership of this working group has been expanded from five to eight NHRIs, which are Kenya, Cameroun, South Africa, Malawi, Ghana, DRC, Algeria and Sierra Leone.

At the global level, members of the NANHRI elected to represent the African region in the GANHRI Bureau for a two–year term are NHRIs of Morocco, DRC, Zimbabwe and of course, the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice of Ghana.

CHRAJ was again elected as alternate member to South African Human Rights Commission with effect from October 2022 to serve on the GANHRI sub-committee on accreditation, with the responsibility for the accreditation of NHRIs globally in accordance with the Paris Principles.

Finally, the commission was for the third time running, re-elected to serve as the representative of the continental body, NANHRI, on the global body, GANHRI SDGs Working Group for yet another two-year term.

Benefits

The election offers some dividend to the commission as a corporate body and the country at large.

It affirms the good standing of the commission as an independent, competent and effective national human rights body capable of promoting and protecting human rights both nationally and internationally.

It further attests to the leadership qualities of CHRAJ and its commissioners, contributing to the status of Ghana as a beacon of democracy and peace on the continent, with strong state institutions capable of contributing to human rights protection on the world stage, as well as the SDGs and the Africa Agenda 2063.